Guarding the Tongue: These 15 Fascinating Facts Will Help Us All Strengthen Our Speech

1. In Deuteronomy, we find the commandment: "For Hashem your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give your enemies before you, therefore your camp shall be holy, that He see no unseemly thing in you and turn away from you." The explanation of this verse is that when the Jewish people guard two things: modesty and speech, they merit the divine presence within the camp of Israel. Our great Mussar sages explain that this doesn't present just two possibilities – either Hashem is present or He withdraws from the camp. Rather, the more the Jewish people increase in modesty and guarding their speech, the more they merit divine countenance and heavenly assistance.

2. In the Jerusalem Talmud, the following is stated regarding the connection between gossip and victory in wars: "David's generation – they were all righteous, but because they had informers among them, they would go out to war and fall... But Ahab's generation – they were idol worshippers, yet because they had no informers among them, they would go to war and be victorious."

3. In Tractate Pesachim: "Rabbi Yochanan said: Why did Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, merit being counted among the kings of Judah? Because he did not accept slander about Amos."

4. In Tractate Shabbat: "Rav Yehuda said: Had David not accepted slander, the kingdom of the House of David would not have been divided, Israel would not have worshipped idols, and we would not have been exiled from our land."

5. In Tractate Arachin: "Rav Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukba: For anyone who speaks slander, Hashem says to the angel of Gehinom, 'I will judge him from above, and you judge him from below.'"

6. Further stated there: "Rabbi Chama son of Rabbi Chanina said: What is the remedy for those who speak slander? If he is a Torah scholar – he should engage in Torah study, as it is said, 'A healing tongue is a tree of life,' and 'tongue' refers to slander. And if he is an unlearned person – he should humble himself."

7. In the Jerusalem Talmud: "Rabbi Yosi said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: One who speaks slander denies the fundamental principle of faith."

8. Also in the Jerusalem Talmud: "With all other sins, a person sins on earth, but with these [slander], they sin in heaven and on earth."

9. In Genesis Rabbah: "Rabbi Levi said: In the future, Hashem will take the idolaters and cast them into Gehinom, and say to them: 'Why did you penalize My children?' And they will say to Him: 'From among them came those who spoke slander against each other.' Then Hashem will take both these and these and cast them into Gehinom."

10. In Exodus Rabbah, it states that Moses wondered why Israel suffered such a harsh exile. Thus it says: "Moses was contemplating in his heart, saying, 'What sin did Israel commit that they were enslaved more than all nations?' When he heard the words [of the informer], he said, 'There is slander among them; how can they be worthy of redemption?' Therefore he said, 'Indeed, the matter is known; now I know why they are enslaved.'"

11. Also in Exodus Rabbah: "See how severe is the power of slander, for they were commanded to build the Temple, but because the generation engaged in slander, it was not built in their days."

12. In Midrash Tanchuma on Parshat Bereishit: "One who speaks slander is worse than one who commits an act, for the decree against our forefathers in the desert was sealed only because of slander."

13. It is also stated: "Four commoners – Balaam, Doeg, Ahitophel, and Gehazi – you find that these were pushed into Gehinom because of their speech."

14. In the book Charedim: "...Heaven forbid that by hating a fellow Jew you become a vehicle for impurity."

15. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that for slander, sinners are punished in their actual bodies. These are his words: "Slander is more severe than other sins, as Jeremiah mentioned three times, 'Shall I not punish them for these things? says Hashem.' He first mentioned the prohibition of adultery, then mentioned the sin of one who gathers wealth through falsehood, and thirdly mentioned those who speak slander: 'Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, it speaks deceit; with his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart, he sets his ambush... Shall I not punish them for these?' Rabbeinu Bachya adds: "He only mentioned the word 'them' regarding slander, to indicate that the punishment will affect their very bodies."

Rabbi Emmanuel Mizrahi in a short segment on: "Slander Without Names":